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Ajit Pai Helped Charter Kill Consumer-Protection Rules In Minnesota (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: A court ruling that limits state regulation of cable company offerings was praised by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, who says the ruling supports his contention that the FCC can preempt state-level net neutrality rules. The new court ruling found that Minnesota's state government cannot regulate VoIP phone services offered by Charter and other cable companies because VoIP is an "information service" under federal law. Pai argues that the case is consistent with the FCC's attempt to preempt state-level net neutrality rules, in which the commission reclassified broadband as a Title I information service instead of a Title II telecommunications service.
The ruling was issued Friday by the US Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, following a lawsuit filed by Charter Communications against the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC). A three-judge panel ruled against Minnesota in a 2-1 vote -- the FCC had filed a brief supporting Charter's position in the case. "[F]ederal law for decades has recognized that states may not regulate information services," Pai said in response to the ruling. "The 8th Circuit's decision is important for reaffirming that well-established principle: '[A]ny state regulation of an information service conflicts with the federal policy of non-regulation' and is therefore preempted." Pai said the ruling "is wholly consistent with the approach the FCC has taken under Democratic and Republican Administrations over the last two decades, including in last year's Restoring Internet Freedom order." The commission says the reclassification should preempt any such attempts at regulating broadband at the state level.
The ruling was issued Friday by the US Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, following a lawsuit filed by Charter Communications against the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC). A three-judge panel ruled against Minnesota in a 2-1 vote -- the FCC had filed a brief supporting Charter's position in the case. "[F]ederal law for decades has recognized that states may not regulate information services," Pai said in response to the ruling. "The 8th Circuit's decision is important for reaffirming that well-established principle: '[A]ny state regulation of an information service conflicts with the federal policy of non-regulation' and is therefore preempted." Pai said the ruling "is wholly consistent with the approach the FCC has taken under Democratic and Republican Administrations over the last two decades, including in last year's Restoring Internet Freedom order." The commission says the reclassification should preempt any such attempts at regulating broadband at the state level.
but that sort of implies the slightest attempt to hide what they're doing. Hell, this is what the voters wanted. Less regulation. Well, consumer protection rules are regulation folks. And we just got less of them.
I'm sure the savings will trickle down eventually...
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One needs to look for the root cause, which is the whole current Republican regime. It's corrupt from top to bottom.
They'll say – and more importantly, they'll do anything – to hold on to power. They'll gerrymander. They'll lie. They'll cheat. They'll steal. They'll stop at nothing.
Everyone who thinks voting is pointless. That their vote doesn't count. That nothing will change. Get the fuck out and vote in November. Kick these assholes out.
We can stop them. The power to do it is in the ballot box. Crawl over broken glass if you have to, but just go vote.
No, it needs to illustrated again and again. Every dodgy deal he makes needs to be thoroughly documented and publicized.
Until he is gone.
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife